Submarine lifesaving outfit



May 14, 1935. I R. H. DAVIS SUBMARINE LIFESAVING OUTFIT Filed Oct. 16, 1933 Patented May 14, 1935 UkNlT-ED' .S'T AZITZES OFFICE SUBMARI-NE .LiFEsAvmG OUTFIT Robert -Henry -Davis, London, England Applicationflctober :16, .1933, -Serial'No. 693,877

I .5 Claims.

This invention relates to self -.contained breath- .ing'outfits. for, submarine life saving ,use, and has .rcferencezto the: welleknown type; of such outfits,

which comprises in the form. of acompletepre- :assembledunit, an inflatablerbreathing bag of rubber or the like which. occupiesin the donned outfit .a .verticallydisposed position in front of thewearerds chest;. a mouth-pie'cagenei'ally havingstraps or theliketohold it inposition upon the wearerfsmead; a breathingitube connection between. thev mouthpiece .and the breathing bag;

means for absorbing exhaled carbon dioxide from the wearers breath priorto its-return to the mouthpiece. for. re.-inspiration means for supplying oxygen or other respiratory gas to the interior of the.breathing;.bag, lor example, ;.an :oxygen cylinderforming a part of theapparatus and-pro- -.the--buoyancy,. chamber if necessary, after he; has :madehis escapefromv the conning tower or. other vided-with a valve-controlled connection with. the

breathing bag; and aninflatable buoyancy chamber situated preferably .upon. the face .of the :breathing. bag and adapted to maintain the wearer of theoutfit .afloatuponzhis reaching the .sur-

"face-iof the water, this-buoyancy chamber being arranged to be inflated at the will of .the wearer of zthe outfit. by. his manually breaking a small capsule of compressed .gas locatedinreadiness .for. use within the. chamber.

In. connectionwith the inclusion of this-lastmentioned item, 'namely. the buoyancy chamber and its inflation .pcapsule, :among the integers. of J the complete unit, it should perhapsgbe remarked 1 sciousordead when he reaches the surface, the

mouthpiece may become dislodged from his mouth and exposed to the'sea,--whereuponthe In any of person wearing the outfit will sink,+ without.leaving anytrace of his whereabouts.

The provision. in the. unitof. an inflatable; buoyancy chamber additional. to: 'thetbreathing bag,

* inconjun'ction witha readily breakable capsule the breathing bag these valves. tending; especialof compressed; gas located vwithin-thechamber for its immediateinflation at will by the wearer .of the apparatus, admirablyymeetswthis .difliculty,

ion-inperfectconformity with the essential requirements of any component; part'of a submarine life saving outfit,=such axbuoyancy chamber inflated 'simplyrby the :breakingof a.compressed .much -as thesbuoya-ncy chamber is collapsible into thefiat. when not inflated, its, inclusion among the integers of: the outfit very little, increases theoverall dimensions of. theapparatus. .Inaddition, said the wearer of theoutfitis in aposition to inflate part of the submarine that is to, say after; he::has a emerged into the open sea whererof course it -would bequite impossible to inflate thejbuoyancy chamber by .breathinginto it.

Itrhas nowbeen-founcL-however, that it is-a great advantage if, with theinclusion oflsuchra buoyancy chamber andinflation capsule therefor in the well known type. of. outfit referred to,p the quantity ofigas compressed in the, inflation-capsule be only just that quantity which is requisite iorthe full inflationrof the.=buoyancy*chamber at external atmospheric lpressure.

By this means, the chamber may. be constructed as .a' -wholly closed and independent chamber, that is :to say sealed and :devoid :of

communication; notv only withthe breathing .bag; of the apparatuabut; also" .with the external iat- :mosphera; which ensures that once the chamber .isqinflatedxit remains .at'its full degree of in- :fiation;against-leakagecf the inflating gas out of the chamber 5811011 .as sometimes occurs :in cases where: the chamber, is'fitted with an excesspressure ,valve communicating with 5 the external atmosphere or witha valved connection with lypin course of -time,.to1 leak. I

A further: important advantage of storing in .the breakable capsuleimthe buoyancy.- chamber only; just that quantity of compressedgas which on release will sufficerto inflate .thechamber fullyat. external atmospheric pressure, 'is-that; uwhenethe person wearing. the outfit first emerges into the'sea. from the submarine, the sea pressure upontheiaea of the: chamber readily overcomes the small internalgas pressure within-and presses .thefchamber substantially into the flat, so

7 that its volume of displacement in the sea is very small as compared with that the chamber would assume at or near the surface of the water (that is to say, at external atmospheric pressure); with the result that, although the wearer has released the gas for the eventual inflation of the chamber, the upward force of buoy- .ancy of the total outfit, tending to raise the wearer to the surface of the water, is not substantially increased by thebreakage of the'capsule, and in consequence, the wearers speed of.

ascent to the surface of-the water is not materially or undesirably increased as it would other-q,

wise be if the amount of gas introduced into'the buoyancy chamber were such-that the chamber would be fully or more fully inflated at depth, I

that isto say down at the level below the surface of the water at which the submarine happens to be located. r w

In this connection, it may be remarked that it is well known "to be undesirable that a person escaping from a submarine located at 'any' considerable depth below the-surface of the sea should rise to the surface quickly; there are certain physical reasons why if possible his speed of ascent should be relatively slow.

' A further consideration in connection with the conception to employ a capsule containing just that quantity of compressed gas which is sufficient fully to inflate the buoyancy chamber at the surface of the sea, is that bythis means all mechanical strain upon the walls of the chamber is avoided and the chamber may, therefore, be constructed of quite thin flexible rubber orlike impervious material and the seams and joints of the chambennot requiring to Withstand material internal gas pressure within the chamber, can also be made of a simple and light character, with consequent saving in the manufacturing costs of theoutfit. a L

Accordingly, the present invention comprises .a submarine life savingoutfit of the type hereinbefore specified, whereinthe inflation capsule within the buoyancy chamber contains a quantity 'of compressed gas no greater than is sufficient fully'to' inflate the'chamber at external atmospheric pressure, the said-chamber being a wholly closed chamber in the sense indicated -above.

v The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:.- a

Figure 1 is a perspective. view showing the wellknown outfit in position upon the wearer, and

- Figure 2 is a fragmentary section through the bottom left hand corner of the buoyancy chamber, hereinafter identified in reference to Figure 1, this fragmentary view illustrating the way in which the breakable capsule within the chamber is mounted uponawall of the latter.

The outfit showncomprisesa breathing bag I a mouthpiece 2; a breathing tube 3 connecting themouthpiece to the breathing bag l .by way 'of a canister 4 containing a substance adapted to absorb exhaled carbon dioxide from the wearers breathprior to its return to the mouthpiece for re-inspiration therethrough; anoxygen cylinder 5 communicating with the interior of the breathing bag by way of a tube 6 and an inlet 1; a breakableox-ygen capsule 8 mounted upon' the said inlet! and projecting therefrom into the interior of the breathing bag, this capsule being provided for emergency purposes and being ar- 'ranged to be broken for the revivifying of the atmosphere within the breathing bag upon thenormal supply from the cylinder 5 failing; and

a buoyancy chamber! vulcanized on to the face I thatis to say it may comprise a closed rectangu-' lar container of sheet metal having an inlet 4a. in the top wall and an outlet (not shown) in the bottom wall, and accommodated between perforated partitions extending across the interior of the container, one below the inlet 4a and the other above the outlet, a charge of granular material adapted, as stated, to absorb carbon dioxide from the wearers breath, which latter, as the wearer breathes, first passes downwardly through the charge of granular material into the breathing bag via the said outlet in the bottom wall of the canister and in this passage 'becomesdenuded of carbon dioxide and then returns through the canister to the mouthpiece-2 as the wearer re-inspires.

The oxygen cylinder 5 may be mounted in any suitable manner in place in the outfit; For example, it may be strapped in place therein by means of rubber, canvas or like straps 5a vulcanized on totheflower part of the'breathing' bag I.

The capsule l0, like the capsule 8,is arranged to be broken off at the narrow neck portion 12 at the base end of the capsule.

The said fitting II consists of a flange I3 integral with a spigot l4 and with a second spigot I5, and a wing nut 16 screwed on to the spigot l5 and firmly clampingin a gas-tight manner the 'bottom wall of therbuoyancy chamber between the base of the nut. andJsaid flange I3 as. shown, the spigot l4 being screwed or welded'int'o the mouth of the filled capsule I0, which latter .is

introduced into place within the buoyancy chamber through the hole in said bottomwall thereof in'which the fitting -l l' is located.

Both the breathing bag I and the buoyancy V chamber 9 (which in the drawing areboth shown in the inflated condition) are of a flat-folding construction so as normally, in the stowage condition, to lie flat.

' In the use of the outfit, the breathing bag I is inflated in the usual way, and in the event of the wearer judging it to be advisable or necessary 'to inflate the buoyancy chamber 9, he simply breaks ofi the capsule III, with the result that,

although at first the chamber remains substantially, in the flat (that is to say, still in the collapsed condition) owing to' the external'pressure of the sea upon itswalls, it gradually, as the wearer ascends through the water, inflates, until,

upon the wearer actually. reaching the surface,

it. is fully inflated by the gas which' has been released into it from the broken capsule.

It will be appreciated by those acquainted with the art and in particular with the type of submarine escape outfit hereinbefore specified, that theinvention is capable. of considerable modification without departure from its spirit and scope,

that is to say, for example, in respect of the shape and positionin the buoyancy chamber of the breakable capsule, the manner in which the capsule is mounted upon the wall of the chamberand again in regard 'tothe shape of the: chamber itself and its position and manner of incorporation in the unit.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A self-contained submarine escape breathing outfit comprising, in the form of a complete preassembled unit, an inflatable breathing bag occupying in the donned outfit a vertically disposed position in front of the wearers chest, a mouthpiece, a shut-01f valve therein, a breathing tube connection between the mouthpiece and the breathing bag, means for re-conditioning the air breathed into the breathing bag, an inflatable buoyancy chamber capable of maintaining the wearer of the outfit afloat in the event of the breathing bag becoming flooded, a readily breakable capsule of compressed gas located in readiness for use within the buoyancy chamber for the inflation of the latter and capable of being broken by manual pressure applied to it through the flexible wall of the chamber, the said chamber being a completely closed chamber in the sense herein specified and the capsule within it containing a quantity of compressed gas not greater than is sufiicient fully to inflate the chamber at external atmospheric pressure.

2. A self-contained submarine escape breathing outfit comprising, in the form of a complete preassembled unit, an inflatable breathing bag occupying in the donned outfit a vertically disposed position in front of the wearers chest, a mouthpiece, a shut-off valve therein, a breathing tube connection between the mouthpiece and the breathing bag, means for re-conditioning the air breathed into the breathing bag, an inflatable buoyancy chamber mounted upon the face of the breathing bag and capable of maintaining the wearer of the outfit afloat in the event of the breathing bag becoming flooded, a readily breakable capsule of compressed gas located in readiness for use within the buoyancy chamber for the inflation of the latter and capable of being broken by manual pressure applied to it through the flexible wall of the chamber, the said chamber being a completely closed chamber in the sense herein specified and the capsule within it containing a quantity of compressed gas not greater than is sufiicient fully to inflate the chamber at external atmospheric pressure.

3. A self-contained submarine escape breathing outfit comprising, in the form of a complete preassembled unit, an inflatable breathing bag occupying in the donned outfit a vertically disposed position in front of the wearers chest, a mouthpiece, a shut-off valve therein, a breathing tube connection between the mouthpiece and the breathing bag, means for I e-conditioning the air breathed into the breathing bag, which means consists of an air permeable mass of material absorbent of carbon dioxide and so positioned as to intercept the air flowing between the mouthpiece and the breathing bag, an inflatable buoyancy chamber mounted upon the face of the breathing bag and capable of maintaining the wearer of the outfit afloat in the event of the breathing bag becoming flooded, a readily breakable capsule of compressed gas located in readiness for use within the buoyancy chamber for the inflation of the latter and capable of being broken by manual pressure applied to it through the flexible wall of the chamber, the said chamber being a completely closed chamber in the sense herein specified and the capsule within it containing a quantity of compressed gas not greater than is sufficient fully to inflate the chamber at external atmospheric pressure.

4. A self-contained submarine escape breathing outfit comprising, in the form of a complete pre-assembled unit, an inflatable breathing bag occupying in the donned outfit a vertically disposed position in front of the wearers chest, a mouthpiece, a shut-off valve therein, a breathing tube connection between the mouthpiece and the breathing bag, means for re-conditioning the air breathed into the breathing bag, an inflatable buoyancy chamber capable of maintaining the wearer of the outfit afloat in the event of the breathing bag becoming flooded, a readily breakable capsule of compressed gas located in readiness for use within the buoyancy chamber for the inflation of the latter and capable of being broken by manual pressure applied to it through the flexible wall of the chamber, the said chamber being a completely closed chamber in the sense herein specified, the capsule within the chamber containing a quantity of compressed gas not greater than is sufficient fully to inflate the chamber at external atmospheric pressure and the said capsule being replaceable through a sealed opening in the wall of the buoyancy chamber.

5. In a self-contained submarine escape breathing outfit of the type hereinbefore specified, the combination comprising an inflatable breathing bag, a buoyancy chamber adjacent thereto and having with it at least one common wall and a breakable capsule of compressed gas Within the buoyancy chamber, the said capsule containing a volume of gas not greater than is suflicient to inflate the buoyancy chamber fully at atmospheric pressure and the said buoyancy chamber being a wholly enclosed chamber in the sense herein specified.

ROBERT HENRY DAVIS. 

